SANTEE  Santee Fire Chief Robert Leigh has resigned. His last day on the job will be Tuesday.

Under fire from the Santee Firefighters Association since last July, which gave him a vote of no confidence at that time, Leigh will step down by mutual agreement with City Manager Keith Till.

Leigh will be replaced by Deputy Fire Chief Richard Mattick, who will assume duties as chief Wednesday, Till said. Leigh was earning $145,000; city officials said Mattick’s new salary has not been established.

Leigh’s final assignment was to implement the Fire Department reorganization plan he had initiated, which was completed Friday. Where there had been a fire chief and two deputy chiefs, the reorganization calls for a fire chief, a deputy chief and three battalion chiefs.

“This will enable the department and the city to move forward after a difficult time involving considerable strife that had been brought into the public arena,” Till said in a statement. “Chief Leigh has contributed significantly to the betterment of this department and the city as a whole during a period of financial crisis. It is also clear that continued efforts to reconcile labor issues would not be effective in the existing environment.”

Among his achievements in Santee were a formalization of maintenance procedures for critical fire apparatus; a plan to ensure continuation of city functions in a major disaster; and the reorganization, which seeks to ensure that Santee fire duty chiefs are first on scene in major emergencies.

In January, the Santee City Council met in closed session to discuss Till’s view of firefighter complaints about Leigh. At that point, city officials said a reorganization of the department was under consideration.

A closed session in December gave the City Council an opportunity to talk with Till about Leigh’s job performance. Till oversees city employees, including fire and law enforcement, and has the power to hire and fire in the city of 55,000.

“From the union standpoint we felt strongly since last summer that we needed to part ways,” said Harley Wallace, president of the Santee Firefighters Association. “He wasn’t a good fit, it wasn’t working for either side.”

In July, the Santee Firefighters Association sent a letter to the council chronicling its concerns and a vote of no confidence, which read in part:

“Of our 48 members, 46 of them chose to participate in this vote and unanimously supported a position of no confidence in the leadership of the Fire Chief and the direction of our department under his guidance. Over the last 18 months, the leadership of the Santee Firefighters has met numerous times with Chief Leigh to address our concerns and attempt to work collaboratively to resolve them. Despite our efforts, the Fire Chief has continued to advocate for reduced services, has not adequately addressed our safety concerns, and has continued to undervalue the level of service that we provide our citizens.”

Wallace said Leigh never implemented recommendations about preventing burn injuries, recommendations that came out of a safety committee that included Leigh and four members of the Firefighters Association.